Just waking up, Kentucky? See the results from key 2024 primary elections

Now, our eyes shift to November.

Kentucky voters went to the polls Tuesday to elect a slate of local, state and federal candidates.

Leading the tickets were President Joe Biden for the Democrats and former President Donald Trump for the Republicans, both of whom were their parties’ presumptive nominees before the polls opened. As expected, both easily won their respective primary races.

Other races appearing on ballots across the Bluegrass State included primaries for congressional seats, Kentucky House and Senate seats, as well as judicial and local races. In Fayette County, decisions were made in three primary fights for the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council.

If you’re just waking up, here are Tuesday’s most prominent winners:

Biden, Trump cruise to victory

No big surprises here: President Joe Biden, the incumbent Democrat, and former GOP President Donald Trump won their respective primaries Tuesday. The Associated Press called both races shortly after polls closed in the commonwealth.

Because Kentucky has one of the latest presidential primaries in the nation, Biden and Trump entered their respective contests Tuesday as the presumptive nominee of their parties, having already amassed more than enough delegates to clinch the win.

Republican Nikki Haley was the last candidate to concede to Trump, suspending her campaign in early March after being defeated by the former Republican across the nation on Super Tuesday. Despite already conceding, Haley landed in second place in Kentucky Tuesday.

Biden, 81, is expected to face off against Trump, 77, in a 2020 Election Day rematch on Nov. 5. Four years ago, Trump carried Kentucky by more than 25 percentage points over Biden, though the former VP to President Barack Obama would go on to win the Electoral College votes needed to secure the presidency.

No bold predictions here: It would take a miracle for Biden to knock off Trump in Kentucky come November, likely winning the commonwealth’s eight electoral votes.

Thomas Jefferson beats 45th KY House District incumbent

Rep. Killian Timoney’s quest for a third term in office was cut dramatically short by Thomas Jefferson, a Liberty GOP candidate in the primary. Jefferson won in landslide fashion, with around 70% support with the vast majority of votes in.

Money didn’t appear to matter. Timoney, a Nicholasville Republican, had more than $250,000 come in from outside groups supporting him, but Jefferson was backed by a network of social conservative groups and the Jessamine County GOP. Jefferson also had the strong backing of Liberty Republicans across the state, a group intent on pushing legislative leadership to the political right on various issues.

House District 45, which is part Jessamine County and part Fayette County, was among the more closely watched state House primaries because it exemplified the party’s internal push-pull between more moderate Republicans like Timoney, and the Liberty wing of the party.

Urban County Council district winners

Here’s a look at Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council primary winners:

In District 1, a Lexington councilwoman will face her former aide in the November general election.

Councilwoman Tayna Fogle received 38% of votes cast during Tuesday’s primary. Tyler Morton received 60%. Coming in third was Darnell Tagaloa with 2%, according to unofficial results from the Kentucky Board of Elections.

All council races are nonpartisan. The top two vote-getters in the May primary move on to the November general election.

Fogle, 64, is serving her first term as the First District council member. The First District includes parts of downtown Lexington north of Main Street and extends to Interstate 75. It includes neighborhoods along Newtown Pike, North Broadway and North Limestone.

In District 4: Incumbent District 4 Urban County Council member Brenda Monarrez and Emma Curtis will face one another in the upcoming November election after securing the top votes Tuesday night.

Monarrez, who narrowly won over Brack Marquette in November 2022, is the first person of Latin American descent to serve on the council. She said she’s earned the right to keep the job. Emma Curtis could become the first transgender member of the 15-seat council if she is elected to serve in the upcoming general election.

Monarrez secured 48% of votes followed by Emma Curtis with 30%, according to unofficial election numbers. Brack Marquette received 22%.

District 4 includes neighborhoods south of New Circle Road between Nicholasville and Tates Creek roads.

In District 7: Heather A. Hadi and Joseph Hale will face off in the November general election. Primary voters chose them from a field of four candidates that also included Frank Cannavo and William Matthew Housh. Unofficial results indicate that Hadi got about 40% of the vote, Hale got about 25%, Cannavo received about 21% and Housh had about 14%.

They were running for the seat currently held by Preston Worley, who has served on the council since 2017 and announced in December he would not run again.

In the 5th District, Rogers reelected again

U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers added to his tenure as the longest-serving active member of the U.S. House by winning his 23rd consecutive term Tuesday. The 86-year-old Somerset Republican easily defeated three challengers in the GOP primary: Dana Edwards of Manchester, David E. Kraftchak Jr. of London and Brandon Monhollen of London.

No Democrat filed to run against Rogers in the general election on Nov. 5.

Rogers told the Herald-Leader on Tuesday, as he cast his ballot in Somerset, that more work needs to be done for his district and the country. His constituents struggle with drug abuse, poor health and a lack of good jobs, he said. “We’ve got problems. The country needs some direction,” Rogers said.

In the 4th District, Massie beats Deters

U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, the maverick Republican from Lewis County who represents Northern Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, defeated two primary challengers. The 53-year-old has no Democratic opponent in the Nov. 5 general election.

First elected to Congress in 2012, Massie campaigned this spring as “Kentucky’s most conservative congressman,” with endorsements from Kentucky’s junior U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, as well as fellow Republican U.S. Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Lauren Bobert of Colorado and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.

Tuesday’s primary is “a referendum on thousands of independent votes I have cast in Washington, D.C., on behalf of Kentucky’s 4th District,” Massie said. “I’ve consistently upheld the Constitution by voting for and sponsoring legislation to support the right to keep and bear arms, the right to free speech, freedom of religion and the right to privacy. I’ve also fought against endless foreign wars, foreign aid and inflationary policies, regardless of who is in the White House.”

Donworth scores win in 76th KY House District

Welcome to Frankfort, Anne Gay Donworth.

The first-time candidate came out on top in Tuesday’s Democratic primary election for the Kentucky House District 76 seat, according to unofficial results from the Secretary of State’s Office. Donworth received approximately 44% of the votes cast. Jamie Palumbo and Josh Buckman received approximately 41% and 15% of the votes, respectively.

No Republican filed to run in the district this year, meaning Donworth will run unopposed in November’s general election.

Donworth played a major role in fundraising for library projects, including the new Marksbury branch on Versailles Road. She has also been involved with initiatives designed to uplift the community at the local level while also advocating for public libraries, public pensions and DEI initiatives, she said.

The 76th District seat is held by Democratic Rep. Ruth Ann Palumbo, who announced she wasn’t seeking reelection this year. The longest-serving member of the House and the longest-serving woman in the state legislature will have served 34 years by the end of her term.

Jamie Palumbo is Ruth Ann Palumbo’s son.

It’s Nunn in 17th KY Senate GOP race

Matt Nunn has won the Republican nomination for the District 17 Kentucky Senate seat in Kentucky. The Sadieville Republican will face Kiana Fields, a Democrat from Georgetown, in the November election. District 17 includes Grant and Scott counties, as well as parts of Kenton and Fayette counties.

Nunn beat Julia Jaddock, a Republican from Georgetown, for the seat. Nunn is a retired Kentucky Army National Guard commissioned officer and is currently the vice president of enterprise risk management at Toyota Tshusho America. He grew up in Bell County and is now a business owner in Georgetown.

Fields did not have an opponent Tuesday.

Nunn was backed by outgoing the outgoing senator, Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer, as well as Kentucky Right to Life, the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and local judge-executives in all three counties in the district with a judge-executive system of government.